What I think it is is that there are too many explanations as to what to do to beat an enemy or an icon pointing the way. That is why I love dark souls/demon souls. No flashing arrows or red flashing parts of enemies. The combat itself is not hard but not knowing what to do means lots of trial and error.

Also, back in the day there was no way to Google something if you were stuck.

With Max Payne, all you need to know is that when you have groups of people, aim for the one in the back, while shooting through the ones in from of him.

You can't win withe stuff like this because when games are too hard people complain, so even very hard games nowadays aren't that hard.

At any rate, the writer of this article needs to study-up just a little bit more on the subject:

"I’ve blasted through the Uncharted Series"

Since all of them have puzzle elements contained within it, I highly doubt he blasted through them. It's very easy to complete games when you have the option to start at "easy" and "very easy", which I think he did.

"The original Halo contained health kits, and was a more challenging game because of it, but it too conformed to recharging health"

The original Halo INVENTED recharging health.

"I remember playing the original DOOM games, where after doing battle against a horde of demons, I’d be low on health, knowing I’d have to get past more demons in order to gain precious health kits.

It might be just me, but I felt there was more tension and intensity present, knowing that one wrong move would kill me, and making it to safety would give me a greater sense of accomplishment."

Or, you can just run pas them, which greatly cut-down the difficulty factor. The speed-run was invented by people who played games like this and many other games on the PC because they gave you unmatched agility when your computerized opponents could barely move coherently.

"Games such as Mega Man were brutally difficult. This is a franchise where precision timing and skill were needed in order to retain the precious few lives the player was afforded."

Not really; Mega Man all played the same: once you find the easiest level, you get a weapon from the boss, and then you find the next easiest level and kill that boss with that weapon, which will kill that boss with ease. It's a puzzle game, and not a very hard one once you see the pattern.

If you want hard games, here's a list and why:

Killzone 1 and 2: has checkpoints, but are very far between one and the other

Kill.Switch: out of all of the cover-shooters, this one was one of the most brutal: unlike Uncharted and Gears of War, you don't have people to assist you at any point of the game.

King's Field: PS1 RPG with very deep gameplay as it progresses, difficulty is not too over the top at any one time, but the challenge is consistent throughout the entire game.

And the most logical point of having extra lives or save points in games is because most gamers aren't layabouts or kids who have hours on end to play games; you go too far back into gaming, and gaming will die because only those two groups of people will be able to play those types of games, because most people don't have the time to play whole levels over and over again. Gamers WANT to face very hard challenges, but they don't have the time to waste half of a day to do so like they did when they were kids. Save points will allow them to continue the challenge when it's good for them to. Demon Souls balances it out very well in that regard.

There are easy games on every platform, and if you think PC gaming is immune to the epidemic of accessibility you're insane.

"One button games sooner or later"

Look at early gaming controllers and then look at the current standard controllers. Controllers aren't getting less complex. Motion controls don't have anything to do with it so please don't try to play that card. Motion controls will stick around to lure in the casual gamers who are put off by the standard controllers, but we can all see that games designed purely for motion controls are firmly in the casual category.

Or perhaps it's because of the fact that so many games follow the same formula more or less, such as fps and action/adventure games. Think about it, we've played so many rpg's, fps's and a/a that it all becomes so familiar to us. All we have to do is pick up the controller, learn the functions and play, rinse and repeat. Most of the time we can predict what will happen in x scenario and then know how to proceed.

Take Demon Souls and Dark Souls for example. Demon Souls was a very punishing game, but it was unlike any other game we've played before, hence why it was extremely difficult. Once I've started to learn how the game functioned, then it wasn't so bad. After entering the realm of Dark Souls, it wasn't as punishing as I thought it would be, but that's because I went through so much with the previous one.

I'm sorry but they most definitely are. Go play some old NES (Battletoads, Ghost and Goblins etc) or Amiga (Midnight Resistance etc) games, then come back to your Ps3/Xbox/Wii/WiiU/DS/3DS the games are far far easier.

p.s. I've beaten every game you just listed, back in the old days all you had to do was remember the pattern, and you could play the game exactly the same way every time. It was easy once you new what to do. I dont think I've gotten worst at gaming as i've gotten older, but who knows, maybe i have. Im just saying that games are not easier on hard than the games of games gone by

we have different difficulty settings on most games and even on their hardest they are still easy. When you go from Ninja Gaiden 2 to Ninja Gaiden 3 the difference is like night and day and it's the same with every single game this gen. And let's not even talk about the ones from Nintendo. Mario Galaxy is so easy even a baby could beat it.

The thing about difficulty levels with games like Halo, or Battlefield, Call of Duty, or just any shooter out there... Strike that, ANY game with difficulty options, is that all the highest difficulty level does is give the enemy MORE damage, and the player LESS health. I'd hardly call that a fair way of calling a game truly difficult... It's more frustrating than anything.

It's for reasons like that that I really appreciate games like Demon's/Dark Souls because they achieve a different kind of difficulty. They don't have to resort to making the player extremely weak and the enemies really powerful, they make the game difficult by punishing impatient and unobservant players.

Just my opinion, but that's why I don't like to consider the higher difficulty settings on games as being "difficult". If a game is going to be called "difficult" it should be because the game is NATURALLY difficult. You shouldn't HAVE to set any sort of level to make it more so. And games that are only difficult because they throw more bullets at you, I just don't think they should count. Again, my opinion though.

In halo the AI improves, they get more health more damage AND use proper tactics.

Example in 4 if they see ur shield pop they will charge u even if ur behind cover and those with shields that go out will take cover. It became insanely hard on legendary but the health wasn't the issue. The AI was smart and KNEW when to attack.

I totally agree that this is the type of difficulty that I think games need to go back to, not just going up against overpowered enemies.

Personally, I do not consider Demon's/Dark Souls as "hard" but what they do is make you consider your environment, the enemies and your abilities in a way other games haven't done in a long time, and for me, that makes a much more enjoyable game.

Anytime you actually NEED to learn the mechanics and intricacies of a game in order to beat it is a good thing in my opinion.

uh yeah, seriously the last game i played whare i felt i had to try but i liked it still was darksiders 2 on apocalyptic, besides that every game in 2012 was easy ,heck i beat prototype 2 on the hardet difficuly and platinumed it in 2 days and those days were when i had to go to school.

Halo 4 had a good difficulty. But i really miss those early N64 games type of difficulty. It's not the fact that gameplay has become easier to master, but it's more that games tend to hold you in the hand by telling you exactly what to do to complete your goal. If you're getting stuck trying to solve a puzzle, the games give you obvious hints about where to go next.

I hate how coreographed games have become. Full of setpiece moments that most people seem blinded by, because of how big in scale they are, but they seem to miss the fact that most of these moments are basically a cutscene playing out ingame, and the player can't really interact with it in a genuine way.

At least these scripted moments never seem to occur dynamically. I'm obviously hinting at CoD, Uncharted and all the other franchises that try to rip these franchises off. The latest addition is Dead Space 3 which is seemingly completely ignorant of where it has its roots.

What baffles me is the Assassin's Creed franchise. This franchise has been played by millions and millions for years. They have become adapted to parkour, combat, etc. However, they haven't been offered an additional challenge in the way of difficulty settings - which would solve all the problems.

Sleeping Dogs had adaptive AI - I'd think as a developer you'd at least try something like that. I just hope difficulty settings are a continued practice and implemented into Watch Dogs and new AC titles.

There are tons of games out there that are considered insane on their highest difficulty. Try Halo Reach with 4 players on Legendary. Or the Destroyer from Borderlands 1 DLC with 4 players. What about the Resistance games on Superhuman or Gears of War on insane?

Games these days give you the options for easier settings, but they still do have the hardcore difficulties that you're looking for. But to be honest, why would you want it that hard anyways? Like to the point where you constantly die and struggle to the next checkpoint? That doesn't seem fun. I find it more engaging when the game is challenging but not overly cheap to the point where I'm dying every 10 steps.

Utilizing "difficulty" levels as an excuse to even out the handholding is a cop-out. Games are either built from the ground up to be difficult a-la Demon's Souls give severe underwhelming abilities to the player on higher difficulty modes. The former requires excellent design philosophy while the latter requires almost no thought. This is why so many "hard" modes are extremely cheap nowadays regardless if it's from Halo to Uncharted.

Hard doesn't necessarily mean letting the player die constantly. It's about making smart decisions and allow them to plan ahead and reward them accordingly or punish them vice-versa instead of rushing in head-to which many modern games promote. This is why there is a "thrill" trying to playing games where they only give you the tools for you to discover or work out the balance like Vanquish, Demon's souls or Gravity Rush.

you thought the jetski level is hard?That's just a warm up for Battletoads! The later levels are more difficult thus the reason why not many has finished it! Watching them on Youtube is enough reason for you not wanting to try it. There is no getting lucky, just pure skills!

Really? Back in the late 1980's early 1990's, most games could be completed in 1 to 2 hours. And this was in spite of the questionable design choices that made the games hard where cheap deaths and limited continues were common.

<Campaigns are being hastily completed in four to five hours, when the norm used to be around ten to fifteen.>

I'm doing hardcore mode now and while it's definitely tense, I just don't have the patience for something like that and find myself not enjoying it. Thinking I might just put it on normal and play through it for the first time in two years to get ready for Dead Space 3.

Yeah... I only found 3 games to be difficult this whole gen. Demon souls, Dark souls, and dragons dogma. Most games now give you an in depth tutorial as if you've never touched a game. Also alot of games now focus much more on story then challenging and rewarding gameplay. Game movies usually sell better than game games though, so it's what we're going to be seeing more of.

Right now i'm playing Demon's Souls (thx for the tips from N4G members) and UC3 in crushing mode. Demon's Souls...well...i died a lotttt xD (just beat Dragon God [WTF! dat fists!] and Adjucator. But those ghost like enemies with the flying manta in Shrine of Storm are sooo anoying xD). But i really like this game. It's been a while since i play a hard & challenging games like Demon's Souls. Last time i died a lot when i'm playing Ninja Gaiden (trilogy in SNES and Sigma).

And for Uncharted, i don't know why but i felt UC2 crushing mode is harder than this. But maybe my gaming skills are increased.

As for the articles, gaming this days are about acessible for all type of gamers, including the casual ones. That's why games like Demon's Souls / Ninja Gaiden are becoming very rare. But i'm not against games that isn't challenging as Demon's Souls / Ninja Gaiden. It's about balance i think and hardcore gamers require games that removed the stress from dying a lot after playing games like Demon's Souls ^^

i'd have to agree. the first time i played through the first Assassin's Creed. there was some learning curve involved. over time you tend to master the controls, and eventually come AC3, i admit that up to now i've been dragging myself just to complete the game. not because it's hard, in fact it's become too easy for me. too easy that i've somehow become bored with it. i'm just playing it now to follow the storyline; part of the gameplay is exciting but overall, i just find it too easy.

same thing for shooters like COD (referring to single player campaign only, since multiplayer is player-controlled). yes, once in a while you end up dead, but the "challenge" aspect is mediocre; it's practically the action and visual flair that keeps you going at it.